


Trials and Tribulations of One Nora Bishop

by blueberryfoxtrot



Category: The Wayhaven Chronicles (Interactive Fiction)
Genre: F/F, prompts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:36:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27205331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueberryfoxtrot/pseuds/blueberryfoxtrot
Summary: A collection of prompts from my tumblr featuring Unit Bravo (mostly Ava) and my detective, Nora Bishop, beginning with a bloody kiss.
Relationships: Detective/Ava du Mortain, Female Detective/Ava du Mortain
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	1. Bloody Kiss

Forgotten arm. Nora can’t remember where she heard the phrase, but she sure as hell knows what it means. The hit you don’t see coming that knocks you on your ass. She’d been too focused zapping one trapper with her Volt that she missed his partner in her blind spot. Nora sighs into the gravel biting her bloody cheek, her vision swimming and jaw throbbing, reeling from the partner’s left hook.

She preferred it as a metaphor. 

Before she can recombobulate herself, the trapper grabs her by her hair. Nora cries out, hands flying to his grip as he yanks her backward onto her knees. The pain helps. Scenarios like this were pretty common in her dojo years ago, muscle memory kicks in as Nora follows his momentum with surprising force. 

The trapper stumbles as she collides with him. Nora twists, ignoring how her hair tears in his fist as she hits him as hard and as many times as she can, aiming for the kidneys and floating ribs. She feels one give under her knuckles as she drives him into the wall. 

The second he releases her, Nora knees him in the crotch, using the moment of blinding pain to grab his wrist and _twist_ it behind his back. Nora drops a knee onto his back to keep him pinned. She doesn’t let up as he screams and curses her. Instead she fumbles for his volt gun and jabs it into his back. A spark of electricity and magic (apparently) and the trapper goes still. 

“Stay the fuck down this time,” she snarls through ragged breaths. Nora staggers to her feet, limbs starting to shiver as the adrenaline drains from her system. Her luck has not gone unnoticed. Nora is no slouch in the hand-to-hand department, five years of martial arts under her belt definitely gave her an edge, but this guy had at least twenty-thirty odd kilos on her. Forget what the movies say, fighting out of your weight class is no joke.

Tasers help, though.

She spits out a glob of blood, her tongue probing her teeth for anything loose or missing when she hears Ava shout her name from the hall.

“In here!" 

Immediately the door inward, almost tearing off its hinges as Ava storms through the doorway. Nora’s breath stutters as she observes Ava’s fury melt into one of concern, even as her imposing figure seems to nearly crumple with relief. 

Nora blinks and Ava is in front of her, grabbing her by the arms and checking her for wounds. She shakes her head, in disbelief or frustration or something else, Nora can't be sure. Only that Ava seems to forego words when she grabs Nora's face and pulls her in for a bruising kiss. Desperate, relieved; drawing her into a tight embrace as she pours her relief into the kiss. Ignoring the sharp pain in her mouth, raw flesh from where her teeth bit into her cheek when she hit dirt, Nora answers the kiss eagerly.

For a moment, Ava growls into her mouth, her fingers twitching as they cradle Nora’s face, turning sharper, hungrier. Ava’s breathing quickens, her tongue licks into her mouth. Nora freezes the same moment Ava does.

Blood. 

Right.

Ava pushes her away, taking a wide step back before she spits onto the ground. Nora exhales shakily. Post-fight kisses are a lot less exhilarating when your blood is vampire heroin. Every relationship has it's hurdles. 

"I'm… I apologize. I didn’t mean-” Ava flounders and growls, trying to maintain her composure as the surge of power courses through her. In lieu of meeting Nora's eye, she glares at the unconscious trappers with a gaze that could kill. “It was not my intention to..”

Nora laughs a little breathlessly, trying to break the tension. “For a second I thought I was a bad kisser.”

That seems to do it. Ava's rigid shoulders drop as she huffs a small amused breath as she steps closer, cautiously. Nora pretends not to see how her hand shakes ever so slightly, though she can't help but stare at the smear of her blood on Ava's bottom lip.

“Are you alright?" 

"Nothing I can’t handle.” She rubs her jaw. “That fucker got me good though.”

It’s almost comical the way Ava’s eyes narrow darkly as she follows Nora’s gesture, her lip curling back slightly in a snarl before she realizes what she’s doing. She looks at Nora with grim approval. "Not as good as you got him."

Nora grins.


	2. Forehead Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Post-"sleepover" thoughts from Ava's POV.

Ava has never known the detective to be still or soft, never so unguarded. Always deflecting, always fighting, always pushing back. As much as Nora’s stubbornness infuriates her, Ava cannot help but be drawn to her tenacity nevertheless. 

It felt akin to worship, this feeling as she observes her detective. Never could she have imagined what it felt like to have Nora yield to her, to let her in and give her trust so willingly. If she didn't know better, she would have called it guileless. To gaze upon her now as she sleeps with that patchwork blanket slung low on her hips, allowing the sun to grace the planes of lithe muscle and freckled skin; to admire her handiwork on Nora’s skin, a collection of bruises and the evidence of Ava’s hands on her body. 

The fear lurks even so. Darkness swallowing them whole. The thought of losing Nora... of hurting her- no. Ava quashes that line of thought under a fierce swell of protectiveness. There are few certainties in life, but this is one. It’s a strange feeling when one realizes they would do quite literally anything for another person. To have found a mirror to your soul; the other half you didn’t realize was missing until she shot you outside of a warehouse.

Ava is no fool. Nearly a millennia is an absurd amount of time to develop habits and coping mechanisms. Carefully constructed numbness over centuries torn apart by a rebellious little human who had no concept of how small she was... part of her wanted to run away, to box all of this up again and forget she ever met a woman named Nora Bishop. 

Nora mumbles in her sleep. Tiny senseless little words that Ava wants to memorize for some inexplicable reason. When she’s nervous or unbalanced she presses her thumb into her palm. She hums when she works in the laboratory or the tech lab, unaware, so utterly focused on her work. When she’s feeling cheeky she bites her lip and squares her shoulders like she’s ready to fight. This woman is stubborn as an ox. Fierce, tenacious, foolishly brave. Nora gives no quarter and faces her world unflinching, accepting and adapting to the slings and arrows of this life. There is vulnerability there, too, she knows. A fragile heart, an ache to love and be loved. When she kisses her it’s like...

It’s like finding home.

Ava leans over her sleeping detective, gently brushing a lock of ebony hair from her eyes. The barely there streak of freckles across her nose nearly makes Ava break, so hopelessly and helplessly in love.

Slowly, reverently, Ava presses a kiss to Nora’s forehead. Nora hums happily in her sleep, and for a time Ava does not think of the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @aelwen or @aelwen-art on tumblr


	3. Dying Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora's dying on the outside, Ava's dying on the inside.

Nora shivers in Ava’s arms, her skin growing colder and colder as she slips away inch by inch, the familiar enigmatic spark in those dark brown eyes was dull. Faded. Disappearing. Ava’s tears fall freely, staining Nora’s navy blue dress shirt. Nora is _dying_ and Ava can’t do a goddamn thing.

“I think this is it,” Nora croaks. The wheeze in her breath felt like a thousand knives in her chest. Ava gathers her up closer. She doesn’t think about how weak and frail Nora feels in her arms. She does not.

“ _No_.” Ava bites out the word, harsh against the lump in her throat. “No I need you to stay. I’m ordering you to stay with me.”

Tears slip down Nora’s cheeks when she chuckles. “Never… was one much for-” she gulps in a breath, “for following orders.”

Ava shakes her head, shuddering as she tries to control the agony roiling in her chest. 

“Please…” she begs in a whisper. “Please don’t leave me. I can't… you have to _stay here_.”

Nora’s lips curl into a weak smile, teeth stained bloody pink. “I’m trying,” she murmurs, barely audible above the cacophony of Ava’s world crumbling around her. Nora gasps, greedily sucking down her last breaths.

Ava can hear everything. She can hear her heart slowing, sluggish and clinging to life. She can hear the wheeze in her lungs, ragged and weak. The noise is burned into her memory and Ava can’t imagine a more agonizing sound than this.

“Ava?” Fear colours Nora’s voice and _god_ , this is hell. This is surely hell and Ava cannot do this. She cannot… and yet she must. Her eyes squeeze shut. She tries to swallow past the painful lump in her throat but she cannot. Ava shakes as she cradles Nora in her arms.

“Ava.. please,” Nora begs and Ava breaks. She cups Nora’s pale cheek, thumb brushing her cheek the way she always liked. Nora’s dark eyes shutter as she whimpers.

“Yes, yes my love, I’m here. I’m here.”

“Kiss me? Please?" 

The world cracks. Ava wants to scream, she wants to let loose this thing inside of her to give voice to her grief, her despair. She knows once she starts she will not stop, she knows she has to be strong for Nora, one last time.

Ava kisses her. She kisses her knowing she will never kiss this woman again. It is gentle, it is desperate. Tears mix with the blood in and around her mouth as Nora answers back as emphatically as she could, tiny gasps and whimpers escape their mouths; Ava can’t help but feel as though she is stealing her last breaths. Distantly she can feel the rush of strength Nora’s blood provides and she wants to spit it out, horrified at the swell of power within her when she can’t use it to do something _fucking useful_. It’s theft. It’s disloyal. It’s hell.

But her lips are perfection, the way she kisses as if it’s a fight every single time, even now without fail she is fighting. They break apart slowly, reluctantly. Ava rests her forehead against Nora’s as she often did. 

"I love you, Ava… I’m.. sorry..”

“No.” Ava shakes her head, pulling away to hold her gaze. “No, I don’t want you to go that way.”

Nora smiles. “I’m glad I met you.”

Ava tries to say it back. She opens her mouth but no words come out. Her lips tremble and she can’t say it. Instead she kisses her forehead. Tries to put everything she can into her touch. The way she smiles tells her Nora understands. She always did.

Between the space of a breath, Nora’s chest stops rising, and Ava’s world is swallowed by darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @aelwen or @aelwent-art on tumblr


	4. Shy Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stake-out make-out.

It’s difficult not to sound like a teenage girl with a crush when Nora finds she cannot take her eyes off of Ava. Together, and alone, for the first time in weeks for longer than a few scant minutes here and there. Nora can’t help but feel on edge. Ava has said nothing since their… moment during their sparring bout at the warehouse.

Ava’s not exactly an open book.

“Detective.” Ava’s voice snaps Nora out of her runaway thoughts. She glances up to find Ava watching her closely. Or, more precisely, watching her leg jumping up and down. Nora slaps a hand down on her thigh, silencing the rhythm. 

“Yeah?”

“No need to be nervous.” The amusement in her tone makes Nora scowl by habit. 

“I’m not nervous.” Bold-faced lie, obviously. The way Ava’s brow slowly climbed up her forehead made it pretty damn clear she was of the same opinion. Nora rolls her eyes. “I’m not.”

Ava hums noncommittally. 

This is ridiculous. Nothing has changed. Nora has spent time alone with Ava before. This is a stake-out. At night. Alone. With Ava. Ava du Mortain who has a pretty awful track record when it came to their rare moments alone together. Whatever was going on between them is still fresh. Untested. There’s a lingering and well-founded fear in the back of her mind, terrified that Ava will come to her senses and disappear, leaving Nora alone.

Again.

Nora clears her throat nervously when Ava’s gaze does not break. Heat flares in her cheeks and her heart races. 

Enough of this high school shit. How is it she can be steady as a rock on the job? She’s solid in a fight, can roll with the punches reasonably well, and even stands firm when she and Ava inevitably clash and fight. Nora can hold her own in every other respect until she’s alone with Ava and everything goes squibbly and she’s a hot stuttering mess. 

“I’m going to refill my tea,” she blurts already halfway out of her seat. 

Nora definitely walks to her rucksack laid out on the hood of her car like a normal person and not like someone who is flailing like a moron because a beautiful vampire is staring at her. She fumbles the cap to her thermos as she tries to catch her breath, the clatter somehow ten times as loud in her ears.

A sudden waft of Ava’s new perfume is Nora’s only warning before Ava’s hand lands on her hip as she reaches over, catching the cap and holding it out to her. There’s a stupid smug smirk on her face and honestly Nora can’t look away from the warm mirth in those green eyes, dark in the low light, but bright enough to see the angular planes of her features. The way she wears her hair looser these days, dresses more casually. 

_Oh…_ Nora thinks, _I’m about to do something stupid._

Without much more thought than that, Nora leans up and presses a kiss to the side of her mouth, missing her lips in her haste.

Ava freezes as the hand on her hip disappears, staring at her wide-eyed and stunned. Panic wells up in her chest as Ava remains as still as a statue.

“I’m sorry! Shit, I didn’t mean to.. to…” Panic rises as Ava stares at her. Nora breaks eye contact, backing away. “Let’s forget it happened, yeah?”

The moment she starts to move away, Ava catches her wrist and tugs her back into her space. Heat sparks between them. Nora’s heart races, her fear cautiously giving way to anticipation as Ava steps closer. Slowly Ava reaches up, hesitating only once before she brushes her knuckles along Nora’s jaw, catching her chin between her thumb and forefinger.

“I apologize. Sometimes I fear I’m dreaming when I’m around you.”

Nora chuckles breathlessly. “Torrent of nightmares, then?”

Ava kisses her. Her hand slides from her chin to hold the side of her face, long dexterous fingers brushing over the shorn hair at the nape of her neck. Her lips press softly against her own, tentative, cautious, but determined. Nora’s hands clutch at Ava’s heather grey henley, subconsciously tugging at her hips. Ava laughs against her mouth and Nora’s pretty sure her brain short circuits at the sound.

They pull away, both of them dazed from a single kiss. Ava hums thoughtfully.

“No,” she says softly. It’s a voice Nora realizes is meant for her ears, and hers alone. Ava’s thumb brushes over her cheekbone. “I’m fairly certain this is a good dream.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @aelwen or @aelwen-art on tumblr


	5. "Just jump, I'll catch you!"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora tries to rescue a cat out of a tree. Ava tries to rescue a human out of the same tree.
> 
> Cats are unintentional wingmen.

Nora loves cats. She really does. There are several strays that she feeds around her apartment, several of which have decided that she is their human now. Which means they're her cats now. A calico called Toast, a mackerel tabby called Spatula, and a pure black cat called Pepper. 

As cute as they are, they are also a pain in her ass.

Toast gives her most heart-rending yowl from some of the highest branches of a massive red oak. Nora sighs, shucking off her jacket and waistcoat, taking care to fold them at the base of the tree before she starts her ascent. 

"I hope you appreciate the pains I take for you, you little shit," she grumbles. Toast was probably the most chaotic of her gaggle of felines. Precocious and adorable and beyond frustrating. 

Reminds her of Farah, now that she thinks about it.

It takes a minute or two, but Nora manages to get within arms reach of the calico, who howls again as if her world is ending. "Hey there, sweetie, I've got you." She murmurs.

"Detective?" Ava's voice, coloured with an amusing amount of confusion, calls up from below. Nora starts with a small gasp, accidentally yanking Toast from the branch. "What are you-"

Nora doesn't hear much more than that as Toast panics, flying out of her grasp in a flurry of claws and fur. She curses sharply as her foot slips off the branch. Her hands shoot out, grasping at the trunk, scraping her cheek and arms and chest on the rough bark. 

"NORA!" 

She clings to the oak high up amongst its branches. Distantly registering that she must be around twenty-five, maybe thirty feet high. Wonderful. If she had more of her wits about her, she'd appreciate the rarity of Ava using her name. 

"Nor- Detective Bishop! Are you alright?"

_Doing great. Can't move._ Which is… a troubling thought. Nora licks her lips nervously and looks down. Ava paces below, staring up at her with wide eyes. "Is Toast okay?" 

Maybe it's a bit of a cover while she gathers her nerves. She certainly has a little more sympathy for her cat now, though the irony of having to be rescued instead is not as funny as it likely should be.

Ava growls irritably. "Are you serious? You almost-- you're worried about the _cat_? Your cat is _fine_." It was pretty easy to read the " _you bloody moron_ " tactfully left off the end of that sentence. "Get down now."

Normally Nora would have words for du Mortain, but right now all she can do is groan, heat colouring her cheeks as she hides her face. "I… can't."

Ava is silent for an unnerving length of time. Nora finally glances down. The vampire stands straighter under her attention. She holds out her arms.

"I'll catch you."

" _No_." 

"Detective-" 

"Absolutely not! Are you insane?!" Nora squawks. She clings tighter to the trunk.

"Just jump!" Ava snaps. 

"NO!"

"You are infuriating! Stop being so-" Ava's hands squeeze into fists, "-so stubborn and just jump! I'll catch you!"

Nora knocks her head against the bark in frustration. This is getting ridiculous. Embarrassing. 

"Nora." Ava says. Steady as a rock, so sure and reassuring Nora can't help but look at her. Ava holds out her hands again. "I'll catch you. Trust me."

It was like a switch flipped. Nora softens at the look of conviction in that emerald gaze as she takes in a calming breath. She almost laughs when she realizes that she does trust Ava. Of _course_ she trusts her.

Nora squeezes her eyes shut, takes another deep breath, and falls.

It's only a brief second or two of freefall before she lands squarely in Ava's arms, who dips slightly to cushion her fall. Instantly Nora's free hand grabs onto Ava's shoulder. Ava pulls her in closer automatically, her lips brush against Nora's forehead and Nora can't think about anything else except where Ava is touching her.

"See?" Ava murmurs smugly against her forehead, her lips brushing against her skin. Nora shivers at the sensation. "That wasn't so bad."

Nora snorts against her chest, pushing her shoulder. "You're not as funny as you think."

Ava chuckles, her breath warm against her face before the moment predictably shatters. Suddenly registering their proximity, Ava stiffens and Nora yelps when she all but throws her away in a way that would have been comical if it didn't make her feel like an idiot.

"My hero," she snarks defensively as she stumbles to her feet, missing the contact already. Ava clears her throat and stands with her hands behind her back, reminding her of a soldier standing at attention. 

"I'm glad I was here." She blinks. "To keep you from hurting yourself."

Nora rolls her eyes as she picks up her discarded clothes, shrugging on her waistcoat. She doesn't miss how Ava's eyes flick to her waist as she does up the buttons. 

"How gallant... I would have gotten down myself."

Ava raises a brow, quickly sinking back into their usual dynamic of snark and playful antagonism. "Yet you did not."

Toast meows loudly at their feet, cutting off Nora's particularly caustic retort. Instead of wringing Ava's neck she scoops up her stupid cat and storms past her. "You are _impossible_."

"Likewise," she says dryly, falling in step beside her, reaching over to scritch Toast's chin.

Nora snorts as Toast starts purring loudly, soaking up the touch.

_Don't be jealous of a cat, Nora Bishop. Don't be jealous of a fucking cat._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @aelwen or @aelwen-art on tumblr


	6. Neck Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Insatiable is definitely in Ava's lexicon, yes?

Nora hums quietly as she stretches in front of the mirror, relishing the ache in her muscles as she admires Ava's handiwork from last night. takes in the light bruising over her hips, the hickeys and bite marks lining her clavicle and her throat. Her hand travels down her breastbone, cocking her head to the side in admiration. 

Duty calls, her hand falls. She puts on a black sports bra and shrugs on her typical navy blue dress shirt. A quiet shuffle behind her makes her fingers pause halfway through buttoning. Nora glances up, seeing Ava reflected in the mirror. 

Immediately her heart speeds up. A small smile quirks her lips as Ava regards her; hungrily, Nora notes with pleasure. Without waiting for her to speak, Ava crowds up behind her, pressing her hips against the counter as her hands tug at her waist. 

"Good morning," Nora murmurs. Her breath hitches when Ava tugs her collar aside to press a chaste kiss against the bruises on her neck. Ava hums, nosing happily behind her jaw before she bites down gently. Nora yelps, pushing back into her. "That's tender."

She hums again, kissing the spot she bit in apology. "You're beautiful."

Heat crawls up her cheeks at that. Sex is all well and good, but it's still those little words that make her blush the hardest even now. Hearing Ava say them continues to surprise her every time.

Sappy? Yes, definitely. But it’s Ava, so she can live with it.

Nora indulges, just for a moment, though the second Ava's fingers start to dip into the waistband of her shorts Nora laughs. "We're going to be late if you keep that up."

Ava pauses. Considering so seriously it makes Nora grin. Then with a shrug, she catches Nora's eye in the mirror. "So be it."

Half a question, half a statement of fact. Nora sighs, pretending to be put out. "If needs must."

With her acquiescence, Ava spins her around and lifts her onto the counter space, slotting herself between Nora's legs and begins creating an all new set of marks around her throat.

Oh yes, they’re going to be _very_ late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @aelwen or @aelwen-art on tumblr

**Author's Note:**

> @aelwen or @aelwen-art on tumblr


End file.
